Arne Magnusson
Dr. Arne Magnusson is the leader of White Forest. He is a grey-haired stocky Caucasian man who looks to be in his early sixties. He is a former member of the Black Mesa Science Team and one of the few survivors of the Black Mesa Incident, and an important orchestrator of the Resistance. Biography Background Before the Black Mesa Incident, Magnusson worked at Black Mesa as a scientist. Arne used to compete for grant money with Isaac Kleiner,Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Chapter 5, Our Mutual Fiend: Eli Vance: The way he and Magnusson have been going at it, you'd think they were still competing for grant money! Alyx Vance: Some things never change... and took grievance with Gordon Freeman when the latter destroyed his microwave casserole back at Black Mesa (see below). It is never directly explained how Dr. Magnusson managed to survive the Black Mesa Incident. After the Combine invasion he came to head a major Resistance base, White Forest, and used his scientific expertise to make technological advances to aid the Resistance. Most notable amongst these are the rocket he constructed to tap into the old Black Mesa/Xen satellite array, as well as the Magnusson Device, a deadly anti-Strider weapon. He was aided in these endeavors by Uriah, a Vortigaunt. Dr. Magnusson is held in the same high regard by the Vortigaunts as is Dr. Eli Vance, both as an accomplished scientist and leader of the Resistance. Appearances ''Half-Life 2: Episode Two In ''Episode Two, he is first seen through transmissions between Alyx and Gordon and White Forest during the ride through the Outlands, showing his eagerness to receive Mossman's transmission. Arrived at White Forest, he is first heard when a false alarm is triggered in the secondary silo. His is first met in the rocket chamber, where he is working and arguing with Kleiner. Before Alyx, Eli and Kleiner go back upstairs to have a look at the data packet, another alarm is triggered in the secondary silo. Magnusson then sends Gordon to the area to investigate. Gordon then seals the silo after an actual Combine breach occurs. Back in the upper levels of the base, Magnusson introduces him to his Magnusson Device and how to use it against Striders (see below for the "casserole debacle" reference). After the assault, he thanks Gordon for the success of the mission and goes oversee the rocket launch in an office. He is last seen on a screen during the rocket launch, and shows himself very enthused by the success of the launch. Personality and skills Arne Magnusson has a fussy, petulant nature. He makes constant complaints about the completion of his satellite rocket, an object that he dotes upon. Verbose, egotistical and authoritarian, Magnusson thinks highly both of himself and his inventions, to the point of naming them after himself. He finds shows of emotion distasteful, particularly when he feels it comes at the cost of industry. He despises Isaac Kleiner's pet Headcrab Lamarr just like Barney Calhoun does.Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Chapter 5, Our Mutual Fiend: Arne Magnusson: And get your cranio-conjugal parasite away from my nose cone! Isaac Kleiner: Now listen here, Magnusson, there's no call for hurtful comments. Magnusson is not, however, without a softer side; he grudgingly thanks Gordon Freeman for saving his rocket during the events of Episode Two, and his joy at the rocket's successful launch is palpable. His dedication to the Resistance comes above all else. Behind the scenes *As explained by Marc Laidlaw in a February 2008 interview posted on ComputerAndVideoGames.com, Magnusson was created when the team realized Eli and Kleiner would not have been able to "warm up" White Forest by themselves to have it as equipped as it is. Creating a new character would have filled that gap.[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=181620 Marc Laidlaw on ComputerAndVideoGames.com]: "In early drafts of the episode, Eli and Kleiner had warmed up White Forest all by themselves, somehow, in the brief time after fleeing City 17. This seemed ridiculous, so we developed a backstory in which Black Mesa had acquired an extremely cheap Cold War bunker and developed some projects in response to budgetary and oversight problems associated with basing all work in North America. Again, all the explanatory matter bogged down the game, so we ditched it. There may still be some old lines hanging around in the .wav files, but I haven't looked..." The addition of this new character was also to counter the lack of interpersonal conflicts between the characters, Alyx, Eli and Kleiner having a lot of affection for one another.John Morello in the Episode Two commentary : "In sketching out the scenes for the episode, we noticed a lack of interpersonal conflict between the characters who had survived from Half-Life 2. Alyx, Eli and Dr. Kleiner have a lot of affection for one another, as you will see in many of the scenes. And while we all value the benefit of strong positive relationships, we were happy to have Dr. Magnusson around to get irritated by all the hugging." *Magnusson's appearance was based on that of Paul Eenhoorn, a prominent actor from the Seattle-area filmmaking community.Valve is also based based in Seattle.Paul Eenhoorn - Cast Member Exposé << CoffkaMovie's Weblog *According to the Episode Two games files, Magnusson was to appear older and balder. The current model is more faithful to Eenhoorn's features. *In the Victory Mine, the Vortigaunt says at some point "What next in the parade of constant obstacles?", a variant of one of Dr. Magnusson's sayings, "What next in the parade of constant interruptions?". According to Marc Laidlaw, the affinity between the Vortigaunts and Dr. Magnusson has caused some of his mannerisms to spread among them by way of their lowgrade telepathy.Half-Life 2: Episode Two commentary *Just after Gordon has tested the Magnusson Device, Magnusson tells him that he might forgive his "microwave casserole" debacle at Black Mesa if he succeeds in protecting the rocket from the Striders.Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Chapter 5, Our Mutual Fiend: Arne Magnusson: Oh, and Freeman! If you pull this off, I might just forgive you for that debacle at Black Mesa. You know the one I mean... involving a certain microwave casserole. This is a reference to the beginning of Half-Life, when the player can turn on a microwave and explode the meal inside. The scientist apparently waiting for his food to be ready yells at the player "My God! What are you doing?", although it is unknown if this particular scientist is actually a retconned Magnusson, his model being always the African-American scientist model, "Luther". According to John Guthrie, the team thought it was finally time to let the player know whose lunch had been ruined in Half-Life, and give them a chance at redemption.Half-Life 2: Episode Two commentary *"Arne" is a Scandinavian first name. It was originally an Old Norse short form of names beginning with the element "arn", meaning "eagle".http://www.behindthename.com/name/arne "Magnusson" is a Swedish name, literally meaning "son of Magnus", a Late Latin name meaning "great". It was borne by a 7th-century saint who was a missionary in Germany. It became popular in Scandinavia after the time of the 11th-century Norwegian king Magnus I, who was said to have been named after Charlemagne, or Carolus Magnus in Latin. The name was borne by six subsequent kings of Norway as well as three kings of Sweden. It was imported to Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages.http://surnames.behindthename.com/php/search.php?type=n&terms=magnusson *Although Magnusson's model resembles English actor Ian Holm or Belgian politician José Happart, this is a mere coincidence. Gallery File:Paul Eenhoorn 1.jpg|Paul Eenhoorn. File:Paul Eenhoorn 2.jpg|Ditto. File:Paul Eenhoorn 3.jpg|Paul Eenhoorn in Coffka, a short film produced in Seattle. File:Magmonitor idle2.png|An older model of Magnusson's face. File:Magnusson badge.png|Magnusson's badge. File:Magnusson model.jpg|Magnusson's model. File:Sign silo drm 01.png|One of the several handwritten warning messages left by Magnusson around White Forest. File:Magnusson rocket silo WF.jpg|Magnusson asking Gordon to investigate the secondary silo. File:Strider Buster introduced.jpg|Magnusson introducing his Magnusson Device. File:Magnade training1.jpg|Magnusson explaining Gordon how the Magnusson Device works in its training area. File:Magnade training2.jpg|Uriah and Magnusson in the Magnusson Device training area. File:Magnusson debacle mention.jpg|Arne Magnusson telling Gordon he might forgive him for his debacle at Black Mesa. File:Ep2 outland 12a0073.jpg|Magnusson actually congratulating Gordon for protecting White Forest, while Alyx does not believe her ears. File:Ep2 outland 12a0065.jpg|Ditto. List of appearances *''Half-Life: Day One'' *''Half-Life '' *''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' Notes and references See also *''Half-Life'' series retcons Category:Half-Life 2: Episode Two Category:Resistance Members Category:Black Mesa Scientists Category:Allies